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Posted 10/1/2010 8:35 PM (GMT 0)
I had my 6month liver mri on Monday.  I now have two small lesions  and the original one has grown.  The transplant committee and radiologists are meeting today to discuss whether they are cancerous.  If they are cancerous, I will get extra points added to my meld score which is 12 (My creatinine level has improved since listing).

I had another upper endoscopy.  This time they found some small varices but they didn't  look ready to burst.  I have to be re-checked in a  year.

My hepatologist is concerned by my complaints of imbalance and 3 falls in the past month and a half.  I am not dizzy but I don't feel steady on my feet.  I fell a week ago on our concrete patio taking out the dachshund.  Luckily, I landed on my back and behind.  I have a nasty bruise on the back of my arm and my back.  Did not hit my head.  The hepatologist is having me have a brain mri and refered me to neurology for evaluation.

When it rains, it pours.

Susie

 

Posted 10/1/2010 8:57 PM (GMT 0)

Hi, Susie!  Thanks for the update!  I guess the lesions are a good thing since it increases your MELD score.  When you see the neurologist (or even your PCP) ask for an Rx for a walker since you are having falls.  It would also be a good idea to get safety bars in your shower/tub, as well as a shower seat.  If you have Rxs for the walker and shower seat, insurance will pay for them.  Maybe the safety bars, too.

Please be careful and keep us posted.

Hugs,

Connie

Posted 10/1/2010 10:44 PM (GMT 0)
please have them check those regularly... Mike's started that way and grew too big to do anything... they were cancerous
Posted 10/2/2010 1:07 AM (GMT 0)
 

I have a four prong cane for walking and a shower chair for bathing.  I got these last year after i was hospitalized 3 times  for kidney stones.  Recently,  I have fallen getting up from chairs and going down steps without bannisters.  I am now taking the dog out the front door which only has one step and is wider.  She is only 18 lbs.

My meld was 18 when I was first listed in 2008.  Last year, they found one lesion on my liver. and have been watching it.  If the spots are diagnosed as cancerous it will move me significantly closer to transplant  I don't have a live donor candidate (it's kind of hard to ask someone to go through such major surgery).

It's amazing how lousy you can feel and stil l have a lower meld score.  Encephalothopy is the pits.  I used to be mentally sharp.

Susie

Posted 10/2/2010 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
I hope you can have the brain scan done soon so you can get some answers. Use the devices you have, but a walker would be better to prevent falls .

Hugs,
Connie
Posted 10/2/2010 3:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Susie,
If you have a problem with encephalopathy, are you taking lactulose? If not, why not? When the ammonia levels began climbing, my hepatologist put me on lactulose and later on, xifaxin, which is an antibiotic that helps rid your intestines of certain bacteria. Together they work fairly well. At least for me.
Posted 10/2/2010 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
When I was first diagnosd with encephalopy in 2008 I was put on enulose. My new hepatologist put me on xifaxan and I thought this was a replacement for the enulose. I found out on this website most people with high ammonia take both. I spoke to my hew nurse and she put me on generlac immediately two weeks ago in addition to my xifaxan. My hepatologist did not catcth that I was not taking the enulose. I am feeling better but have to keep adjusting the lactulose dosage.

Susie
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